CARACAS, Venezuela\u00a0\u2014\u00a0Like many other Venezuelans, Ram\u00f3n Arape said the image of ex-President Nicol\u00e1s Maduro in U.S. custody was a stunning \u2014 and welcome \u2014 sight. <\/p>\n
\u201cI confess that I felt a sense of relief when I saw the photo of Maduro in the hands of los gringos,\u201d said Arape, 59, a welder and father of three. <\/p>\n
Less reassuring, however, were President Trump\u2019s comments about Washington\u2019s determination to take over the government and the oil industry, the nation\u2019s defining natural resource.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve already had it with outsiders \u2014 Cubans, Iranians, Chinese \u2014 and now the Americans come along and want to name leaders and sell our oil?\u201d said Arape, referring to a series of foreign allies sought out by the socialist governments of Maduro and his predecessor, the late Hugo Ch\u00e1vez. \u201cIt\u2019s a violation of law and sovereignty.\u201d <\/p>\n
Many Venezuelans are hoping for a deliverance, but not, it seems, at the cost of selling off the country\u2019s riches. How that plays out with Trump\u2019s view that Venezuela \u201cstole\u201d a U.S.-built oil industry is one of the big questions as Washington embarks on a massive nation-building endeavor in South America.<\/p>\n
Like many other nations, Venezuela nationalized its oil industry in the 20th century, a process begun in the 1970s under a U.S.-allied government in Caracas. Several U.S. oil giants later made claims of illegal expropriation against the government of Ch\u00e1vez, Maduro\u2019s mentor. But few here seemed inclined to believe in Trump\u2019s assertion, made on social media, that Venezuela must return \u201call of the Oil, Land and other Assets that they previously stole from us.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sunday was just a day after the shocking events that saw U.S. forces sweep into the capital and snatch Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, from Miraflores Palace, the seat of government, and fly them out of the country \u2014 and, eventually, to New York, where both face drug-trafficking charges. Both deny the charges, calling them U.S. propaganda.<\/p>\n
Venezuelans with internet access had the opportunity to view the unlikely image of Maduro, bundled up for distinctly non-tropical temperatures and flanked by federal agents, doing a perp walk at a military base in New York and apparently telling onlookers: \u201cHappy New Year.\u201d <\/p>\n
In the Venezuelan capital, life was slowly returning to a semblance of normalcy on Sunday, albeit on a weekend pace.<\/p>\n
Cars and some public transport circulated on streets that had been deserted the day before. People ventured cautiously from their homes after spending much of Saturday indoors, fearing the explosions and a potential aftermath. Many went to church in this overwhelmingly Roman Catholic nation. Sermons called for peace.<\/p>\n
There was a palpable sense of relief that the threat of war had abated, at least temporarily. Many were still absorbing the almost unbelievable turn of events that has surely transformed the nation\u2019s future \u2014 albeit in still unpredictable ways. <\/p>\n
But there was an overriding determination, among both supporters and critics of the ousted president, that the country\u2019s oil and other resources were sacrosanct, and not to be handed over to the United States \u2014 or anyone else.<\/p>\n
\u201cReally it was very emotional to finally see Maduro and Cilia handcuffed and prisoners,\u201d said Fernando Gonz\u00e1lez, 29, a plumber who says he supports Mar\u00edna Corina Machado, the Nobel Peace Prize laureate and longtime opposition leader. \u201cThose two have to pay for their crimes. For that we thank Trump. But that\u2019s not to say we are in agreement with everything he seems to want to do.\u201d <\/p>\n
The president\u2019s determination to \u201crun\u201d Venezuela \u2014 and take over its oil \u2014 didn\u2019t go down well with Gonz\u00e1lez, a fervent nationalist in a country with a long history of nationalist activism.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is all a farce if they get rid of Maduro just to appropriate and sell the oil,\u201d he said. \u201cIt can\u2019t be that way. We want progress, change, but a transition led by Venezuelans. It can\u2019t all be at the will of the Americans.\u201d <\/p>\n
Gonz\u00e1lez saw a role for the United States: \u201cTo help us deal with this social drama of an impoverished country.\u201d But, he added: \u201cThey must respect our will.\u201d <\/p>\n
Arape, the welder, summed up the sentiment of many. \u201cWe didn\u2019t go through all this so that Trump can name his people and take over our oil,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n